Only If For a Night
by theatergurl
Summary: It suddenly dawned on me I had a week left. I had a week left where I wouldn't be fighting for my life, a week left before I would die, and a week left with Peeta. At the thought of not being with him my chest tightened in pain.


Hello! So this is the first one shot that I have written in a very long time, so I'm just getting back into the swing of things. Lots of people have written their ideas for what should've happened the night before the Quell started, I thought that I might as well contribute! Please read and review, constructive criticism is welcomed! Enjoy :)

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><p>The cold night air breezes past me and I pull my legs closer to my body. I hug my knees to my chest tightly and try to hold back the tears that are threatening to spill from my eyes. I sat on the roof of the training center staring out into the night sky. The crowds below laugh, singing, dancing, it was sickening. They were sending previous victors back into the games and there they were celebrating. I couldn't believe that I was going back into the arena, not just me, but Peeta as well. I knew that this was just one of the repercussions of our – my stunt with the berries in the arena last time. President Snow saw it as my defying the Capitol and had intended on making me pay, which he was doing, by sending me into the arena again.<p>

The air passed through me and a chill went down my spine. "You know, next time you might want to remember a jacket." A voice said from behind me. I turned around quickly and saw Peeta standing near the door to the roof. His blonde hair shining in the moonlight.

"I probably should."

He made his way over to me and sat down next to me. "It's horrible isn't it?" He looked out into the night sky, "Here we are, waiting to go back into the arena, and there they are celebrating."

I couldn't help the smirk that spread across my face at his words. "Why are you smiling?" he looked at me like I was crazy. Who knows, maybe I was. It wouldn't be surprising.

"I was just thinking the same thing." I paused for a moment. "Peeta, what are we going to do?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his blonde hair, concern shinning in his blue eyes. "I don't know, Katniss."

We sat in silence for a while. The wind picking up, causing my hair – which was flowing freely down my shoulders – to whip around and make me shiver. Peeta noticed and took off his jacket, he slipped it onto my shoulders and pulled my body to his. "Thank you."

He kissed the top of my head. "You're welcome."

Once again silence had fallen over us. Neither of us knew what to say to the other. What was there to say? I'm sorry that you have to go back into the games? That was an already known fact. We were crowned victors just last year, we were promised a life without worrying about the games, and it had just been ripped away from us. There was nothing to say.

Peeta's arms stayed circled around my waist and I felt myself pressing my body closer to his. I needed to feel his warmth; I needed to know that he was there. This time I knew that there was no chance of both of us getting out of the arena. If President Snow had his way, neither of us would be. It suddenly dawned on me I had a week left. I had a week left where I wouldn't be fighting for my life, a week left before I would die, and a week left with Peeta. At the thought of not being with him my chest tightened in pain. After everything that we had been through I couldn't imagine my life without Peeta. He had saved me countless times, I would never stop owing him. I may not feel the same way for him that he does for me, but the feelings that I do have are extremely strong.

We stayed on the roof for another hour before sleep started to find us. I removed myself from Peeta's embrace and held my hand out to him. I helped him stand and we left the roof. When he walked me to my room he gave me a tight hug and then started to leave.

"Wait." I grabbed onto his wrist. He turned and stared at me. "Stay with me. I don't want to be alone."

Peeta nodded and followed me into my room. I quickly changed into my pajamas and Peeta slipped out of his pants and slept in his shirt and boxers. I pulled the covers off and we climbed into the bed together. I lay on my side and once again pressed myself to Peeta's body. His arm came around my waist and held me tightly. "Goodnight." I managed to mumble as my eyelids started to close.

"Goodnight, Katniss."

Peeta kissing my forehead was the last thing I felt before falling into a dreamless sleep.

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><p>Peeta walks me to my room once again and tells me that he wants to shower off the makeup and that he'll come back when he's done. He tries to walk away, but I grab onto his wrist and press our bodies together. I tell him not to leave. I am so scared that if a door between us is shut it will somehow lock and I will have to spend my last night before going into the arena without him, and I just can't think like that. Eventually Peeta agrees and lets me lead him into my room.<p>

"I do need to shower and get this stuff off of my face you know." He smirked at me.

"I never said that you couldn't take a shower, I just said that you weren't allowed to leave my general area."

"Getting possessive are we?" he smirked once again, "What? Afraid that I'm going to sneak off with Johanna?"

I knew that he was joking, but I couldn't stop the pang of irrational jealousy that shot through me. I crossed my arms over my chest and turned away from him. I heard him sigh and walk toward me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. He rested his chin on the top of my head. "Katniss, I'm only joking. You know that I wouldn't do that."

I turned around in his arms so that we were facing each other. "I know that." I avoided his eyes, "I'm just so scared of losing you."

"Hey, hey." He placed both of his hands on the sides of my face and lifted my face to meet his. "I'm not going to leave you, not ever."

I stared into his blue eyes and he smiled at me. He kissed my cheek softly. "I'm just going to shower. I'll be right now."

Reluctantly I let go of him and watched as he walked into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him, but not enough. About an inch of the door was open and I could see inside the bathroom. I couldn't help but watch as Peeta stripped out of his clothes. Once he unbuttoned his shirt I watched it slip off his skin. I could see the definite muscles in his back. My eyes traveled from his broad shoulders, down the slope of his back and stopped at the waistband of his trousers. I couldn't take my eyes off of him as he slowly slipped his pants down, being careful of his prosthetic leg. My eyes traveled up and down his body and suddenly he wasn't a boy anymore. He was a man. He had changed right before my eyes and I hadn't even noticed. As his hands went to the elastic of his boxers I averted my eyes.

I turned away from the door and ran my hand over my face a few times. I was brought back to a moment in the first games, when we were in the river and I was helping Peeta and I couldn't even look at him naked, and now I had just watched him undress. I lie down on the bed and sigh. I couldn't help but picture his strong frame, hovering above me, his hands on either side of my body, his lips trailing kisses down my neck, one of his hands slipping up my shirt –

My eyes shot open. How long I had been asleep I didn't know, but I doubted that it was very long because Peeta was still in the shower. Thinking of the dream I had just had and the fact that Peeta was a few feet away from me, naked in my shower, set a blush across my cheeks. What had caused that dream I didn't know, but I had it and I was suddenly embarrassed. How was I even going to look at Peeta?

I heard the water shut off and I knew that Peeta would be out soon. A few minutes later he walked out of the bathroom in only his boxers. He smiled sheepishly at me. "I didn't have anything else," he grinned at me, "someone wouldn't let me go back to my room."

"Sorry." I said quietly as I walked past him. I went into the bathroom and the air was still muggy from Peeta's shower. I made sure to shut the door all the way before stripping out of my clothes. I turned the shower on its simplest settings and then stepped into the scalding hot water. I sighed and closed my eyes as the water hit my aching muscles. I scrubbed every inch of my body to get all of the makeup and sweat off of my body. Once I had finished with that I washed my hair twice to get all of the products out of it. Then I just stood there and let the water run over me. My thoughts had somewhere traveled back to Peeta. I wasn't sure why, but when I thought of him there was an aching in my chest. The thought of not being able to make it out of the arena again killed me.

Only one person could make it out alive. If Peeta had it his way, that person would be me, but it shouldn't be me. It should be Peeta. He should be able to come home from the games, live a normal life, meet someone girl who would actually deserve him, marry her, have children and live the life that he deserves. Thinking of Peeta marrying some other girl made a piercing pain shoot through my entire body. The thought of him being with someone else, loving someone else was almost too much for me to bear. I didn't know why I was feeling this way and I didn't want to think about it. My life was going to end in a few days it didn't matter anyway. I tried to rid my head of these thoughts and turned off the shower. I climbed out and wrapped a fluffy white towel around my body; I then realized that I didn't bring any clothes with me. I was so embarrassed about seeing Peeta in only his boxers after the dream I had, I just ran in here. I pulled the towel closer to my body and barely opened the door. "Peeta,"

I could see him sit up on the bed. "Oh good, you're still alive. I thought you might've drowned."

"I didn't bring any clothes in here. Close your eyes so I can get dressed."

Peeta laughed and closed his eyes. I instructed him to place his hands over his eyes, he laughed again but did as I asked. When I was sure he couldn't see anything, I ran out of the bathroom, still clutching the towel tightly to my chest. I made my way over to the drawers and pulled out my underwear and slipped them on quickly. I opened another drawer and put on black running shorts and a gray t-shirt. Once I had gotten dressed I told Peeta that he could open his eyes. I braided my hair and he pulled the covers back so that I could join him. I lay in the bed and he pulled me towards him so that my body was pressed against his side. He turned off the bedside lamp and we laid in the darkness.

I snuggled myself closer to Peeta, burying my face into his shoulder. He began to rub his hand up and down my arm in a soothing manner. I closed my eyes and tried to control the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes. I hated being in such a high emotional state all the time, but it was hard to control it. I didn't have a problem staying strong in front of people, but with Peeta I was able to be vulnerable and I knew that he wouldn't think that I was weak. I felt safe with him. That was when it hit me. I wouldn't be able to live without him, and there was a very high possibility that I would have too. The tears that I had been trying to desperately to stop and made their way out of my closed eyes and touched Peeta's bare chest.

"Katniss," he pulled away from me a bit to look at my face, "what's wrong?"

I tried to speak but I couldn't seem to form words. Every time I would attempt to speak a sob would come out of my mouth. "It's alright." Peeta sat up on the bed, leaning against the headboard and pulled me to his chest, so that I was sitting on his lap. I wrapped my arms tightly around his chest, afraid that if I let go he would somehow disappear. "Katniss, everything is alright. I'm right here."

I removed my face from his chest and stared at him. "No it's not Peeta!" my voice raising the more that I speak, "It's not alright. We're going back into the arena tomorrow and I'm going to lose you! No matter what happens I will lose you and I can't afford to let that happen, because –" I stop myself quickly.

"Because what Katniss?" Peeta asks his blue eyes filled with confusion and concern.

Before I can stop the words from leaving my mouth I say it. "Because I love you."

Peeta's arms loosen around me and his eyes widen. I take a deep breath. I hadn't intended for that to come out, it just had. Suddenly I realized that there was no use denying it anymore, I was in love with Peeta. I was just too stupid and too scared to admit it. I've known it since that night in the cave, but I tried to convince myself that it wasn't true.

Peeta blinked a few times before speaking, "What?"

I placed both of my hands his face. "I love you, Peeta." I stroked the side of his cheek with my thumb. "I'm so sorry that it took me so long to tell you. I've known it since that night in the cave, and I've been trying to convince myself that it wasn't true because I had always told myself that I would never fall in love, that I never wanted to fall in love,"

I smiled softly, "but you changed all of that. I'm sorry that it took for long for me to realize it. I love you, Peeta."

I gazed into Peeta's blue eyes and saw tears brimming in them. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that."

He closed the space between us and our lips met in a passionate kiss. This kiss was the first that we had shared with no cameras around. This kiss reminded me of one other, the kiss in the cave, the kiss that left me wanting more. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. Peeta licked my bottom lip slowly, begging for entrance. I opened my mouth and his tongue slipped inside, colliding with my own. When our tongues touched I let out a moan and felt Peeta smile against my lips.

Without breaking the kiss, Peeta flipped us over so that I was lying on my back and he was hovering above me. Peeta paused for a moment and stared at me. I smiled at him and pulled his face back down to mine. Our lips met and something stirred inside of me. My hands traveled through his hair as his lips went down my neck. His hands slid down my sides and rest on my waist, he then started playing with the hem of my shirt. His fingertips danced along my skin, sending a jolt of warmth through me.

Peeta removed his lips from my neck and looked at me. A question was looming in the air and I knew exactly what it was. I nodded my head slowly and he slowly started to take my shirt off. Once my shirt was off he threw it on the floor never taking his eyes off of mine. I suddenly felt self-conscious about being half naked in front of Peeta. I started to cross my arms over my chest when he grabbed both of them softly. "No, Katniss." He kissed me softly. "You're beautiful."

He released my arms and I moved them slowly from my chest. Peeta leaned down and kissed me softly, making all of my worries go away. I started to relax into the kiss. One of his hands was supporting my lower back and the other was drawing invisible designs onto my skin. His right hand slowly slid up my stomach and he brushed his thumb over my nipple. I arched my body and moaned loudly. "Peeta," I gasped as he kissed the side of my breast.

I felt him smile into my chest. "Yes?"

I closed my eyes and tried to regulate my breathing. "That," I took a shallow breath, "keep doing that."

Peeta chuckled and continued to kiss all around my breasts. After he paid equal attention to both my breasts, he kissed down my stomach and stopped at the waistband of my shorts. He brought his face back up to mine and kissed me softly. He hooked his fingers into the sides of my shorts and started to pull them down. Never breaking eye contact with me. I brought my hand up to his face and brought it back down to mine. I pressed my lips to his softly, silently telling him that it was all right. He slipped my shorts off and threw them across the room. He ran his hands up and down my legs, sending a chill through my body. Suddenly I craved more of his touch.

Peeta's hands slid down my body and then stopped at the band of my underwear. He looked up at me and I brushed away the hair that had fallen into his eyes. "Katniss, are you sure that you want this?"

I nodded rapidly. "Yes, Peeta." I wrapped my arms around his back, pulling him to me tightly, "I want this." I kissed him. "I want you."

Those words were all that Peeta needed to hear. He quickly stripped me of my underwear, and there I was, completely exposed to Peeta. He looked at me and smiled. "You are so beautiful." He kissed me again, and this time it was soft and slow.

I trailed my hands down his chest and stopped at his boxers. "I love you." I mumbled again his lips.

He smiled into the kiss. "I love you."

I slipped his boxers off quickly, and for a moment we just stared at each other. Slowly I opened my legs and he settled in between them. "This may hurt a bit, Katniss."

I shook my head. "It'll be fine Peeta," I rested my hand against his face softly, "I trust you."

Ever so slowly, Peeta pushed part of himself into me. At first it was a bit uncomfortable, but once the discomfort disappeared all I felt was pleasure. I adjusted myself beneath him and told him that he could move. Slowly he began to push himself completely in me. It amazed me how perfectly we fit together, like it was meant to be this way. Peeta started to thrust himself deeper into me, increasing the speed each time. Soon I was bucking my hips up to meet his in response. We then started a faster rhythm, causing me to scream out his name in pleasure. All too soon I felt myself reaching my climax and Peeta quickly followed.

He collapsed on top of me, his head resting on my chest. I rubbed his back softly as we both tried to regain our breathe. Once we did, he leaned up on his elbows and gave me a soft kiss. He rolled off of me and onto his side. He pulled the blankets over us as I pulled myself closer to him. He wrapped both of his arms around me and kissed my forehead gently. As my eyelids started closing softly I thought only one thing.

That I loved the boy with the bread and was happy that I got to be with him, even if it was only for a night.


End file.
